The Optimist Club of Sacramento works to gather donations and coordinate delivery.

Assembly dates are typically the week before Christmas. Volunteer delivery drivers are requested. Location TBD.

Contact our club officers with the signup form below!

The Optimist Club of Sacramento held its 40th Annual Christmas Food Basket distribution on December 21st & 22nd, 2023.

Assembly and distribution were held at an office warehouse donated by Jackson Properties, Inc. This year, Ms. Willow Starkey and students from Merryhill School Academy helped fill the boxes with food. The school found out about our campaign through a student, who has been volunteering with her father for several years, and informed the students who thought it was a great idea. They were a great addition to the event and by all accounts, could turn out to be an annual event for them!

Once again, Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services was instrumental in providing 200 turkeys and 200 boxes of canned and boxed food along with pallets of potatoes and pears. General Produce donated the oranges as they have for quite some time along with Bimbo Bakery which donated 400 loaves of bread! Crystal Creamery provided the nutritious milk and club members topped off the baskets with cookies and other items. Beneficiaries for this year’s event were families from Robla School District and Western Service Workers Association.  

A great deal of gratitude goes to Jackson Properties, Inc., Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, General Produce, Bimbo Bakery, Crystal Creamery, the students from Merryhill School Academy, and all the volunteers who helped make this year’s event successful! We hope to see you next year!

More than 200 family food boxes were assembled; 203 to be exact! Sacramento Family Food Bank & Family Services was instrumental in donating the following: 200 turkeys, fresh produce, apples and canned goods. Bimbo Bakery and General Produce, as they have been doing for the past years, generously donated the bread and oranges respectfully. Crystal Creamery gave our club’s foundation a generous discount for 200 half gallons of milk.welcome.

Club members and the club foundation supplemented the food boxes with other nutritional items and some sweets for desert…

For the past 38 years, club members and volunteers have participated in a rewarding day of individual family deliveries. Unfortunately once again with the complications of this year, the club decided that was not the best course of action. Instead, two bulk deliveries of 100 family food boxes were delivered to the recipients’ facilities: Robla School District – Taylor Street School and Western Service Workers Association main office/warehouse in Sacramento.

Robla School District also benefitted from Sac Republic FC. The soccer team adopted the school district to be the beneficiaries of a toy and coat drive that was held. Sac Republic FC and Sacramento Optimist were unaware of each other efforts to help the school district; consequently, families in the district received a bountiful gift from members of the greater Sacramento community.

Donations and volunteers are always welcome.

For more information, please contact us below.

For 38 years, Sacramento Optimist Club, Inc. has been presenting 200 needy families with children in the area nutritious food baskets for Christmas.

This annual charity project was started by Sacramento Optimist Member Gary Markofer and his wife Patty. Charities whose families which have benefitted include: Western Service Workers Association, the Green House, St. Vincent de Paul and Saint John’s Program for Real Change. The food is donated from local companies, organizations and fellow Optimist Club Members. This includes frozen turkeys, milk, bread and non perishable canned goods.

Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services has been instrumental in donating the turkeys and canned goods.  

There is a substantial amount of work done by the club members and volunteers to make this event successful and with the restrictions we had this year, their efforts were more crucial than ever. In addition to the club membership’s assistance, both monetary and physical, our club would like to thank this year’s sponsors who aided to make this event a great success:

  • Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services
  • Optimist Club of Sacramento, Inc. Foundation
  • Jackson Properties
  • General Food
  • Bimbo Bakery
  • Steve Gatkin, Inc.
  • Crystal Creamery
  • Grocery Outlet

Donations and volunteers are always welcome. If you would like to know more about this annual charity project, please contact the club with the form below.